During the course add/drop period, I have a designated, almost sacred, browser window which is always open. The window has two tabs and two tabs only: the Academic System website and KAIST’s “Online Timeplanner with Lectures”, which is more commonly known as OTL. The window is the digital knife I use to uncap the humanities courses that yield the most ggul (Korean for honey, slan

Kenny Baker, the man best known for the Star Wars character R2-D2, passed away at the age of 81 on August 13 due to a lung condition he was suffering from for the past few years. Kenny Baker was found dead by his niece Abigail Shield at his home. She said that “it was expected, but it’s sad nonetheless,” continuing that “he had a very long and fulfilling life... [that] brought lots of happiness to

Internationally, on October 6, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific intergovernmental body first established in 1988, elected Hoesung Lee of the Republic of Korea as its new Chair. Six candidates had been nominated for the position and after a run-off with contender Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Hoesung Lee was elected by 78 votes to 56. The election took place in Dubrovn

In KAIST,in continuation of September issue’s summary on the telecommunications industry policies in Korea, the following paragraphs report on the updates and the rising tension between the mobile network operators (MNO) that are competing to obtain better-quality frequency bands in the frequency spectra auction administered by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC). Refer to last month’s Polic

In KAIST,What constitutes the essence of college life - the casual drinks, impromptu talks, and nights out - seem eternally sandwiched between exam weeks. There is no better demarcation of what makes college life bearable or intolerable than the uncomfortable acknowledgment of looming exams. Thankfully though, in the weeks leading up to exams, life is culturally rich, mainly due to the innumerable

KAIST is home to a no small number of swimming enthusiasts. On October 3, they were able to flaunt their smooth strokes and smash records as they participated in the fourth annual KAIST swim meet, organized by the school's very own swimming team, KAORI. The event appropriately brought together serious sportsmanship and amusement, with games in between the races to ease tension and provide enterta

[Debate] Is club funding to persists this way?KAIST has had no shortage of funding issues in recent years. Its scope is not limited to extracurricular but also autonomous school bodies, and other organizations. As important as it is that students are provided with a top-notch education, a solid foundation to help pursue their passions in also the trademark of university life. What is the wisest wa

[Debate] Is club funding to persists this way?KAIST has had no shortage of funding issues in recent years. Its scope is not limited to extracurricular but also autonomous school bodies, and other organizations. As important as it is that students are provided with a top-notch education, a solid foundation to help pursue their passions in also the trademark of university life. What is the wisest wa

My first semester at KAIST never existed. Plato’s theory of Forms argues that it is the idea and not the material world of change that possesses the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. In high school, the image I had of college was far from that of studying at KAIST. Getting accepted into college was like knocking desperately on mystical wooden doors, searching for the door that would le

This Chuseok, my entire conversation with a cousin that I had not seen since New Year’s comprised of only two words: “Hi,” and “Bye.” We spent approximately five hours in the same house that day, but other than at that moment of curt exchange, I don’t think I even looked at his face properly.Single word conversations are not too unusual between us. All we ever do together is sit in the same room a

On September 13, news reports on television and major portal sites read that the labor-business-government tripartite commission has reached a fortuitous agreement on labor reform plans. With 20 million laborers hanging in the balance, the hurriedly heralded headlines on the consensus appeared to be good news at first glance. In fact, the labor union that participated in the tripartite talks, the

Internationally, “open access” has been a hot keyword in the past month, as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation declared that all research projects funded by the organization must enable open access to their papers immediately upon publication, and the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced that they would be making all their articles freely available online. In other news, the Euro

As the year ends, many legislative activities see to complete parts of the yearly goals. Sejong City have expedited their relocation plans and the Korean Brain Research Insitute (KBRI) have finally become official. Meanwhile, a research force has been created to address the new changes to the Korean education system from past October, and senator Kang from the October issue has come forth with new

Starting next semester, Spring semester of year 2015, the course add/drop period will be rescheduled to one week before and one week after the start of semester. Even though it will still be two weeks, students will be only able to attend and pre experience the courses only for one week.It is hard to imagine what it would be like to have course add/drop period one week before the start of the seme

Over the summer, four students at KAIST Idea Factory embarked on a journey to improve the current 3D printers. Their success was to be celebrated four months later, at the launching event of their very own ‘Neuron’ – a 3D printer remedying the shortcomings of existing 3D printers. The KAIST Herald met with the very students who created ‘Neuron,’ namely Sukhyun Seo, Se

Each year, graduating students of the Industrial Design department exhibit their final projects. The KAIST Herald met with Ji Ha Kim, the head of the graduation exhibition committee, and Youngho Lee, the head of the exhibition team.Could you briefly introduce yourself?Kim: My name is Ji Ha Kim, and I have been working with Jieun Hwang as the head of the graduation exhibition committee this year.Le

The 4-day week was an unnecessary change. Sure it does afford an extra weekend, but all it isn’t always possible to reap the advantages provided from that extra day. Also, it has ironically resulted not in a regular four-weekdays and three-day weekends but a fluctuating five-day week and typical weekends.Given a typical schedule of two to four classes a day surrounding lunch time, Monday, Wednesda

Over the years, there have been many amendments made to the education system of our school. All of them are intended for an improvement of an existing situation, but have they really been good solutions? As a positive example, a particularly delightful four-day weekday system started this semester. Many of the existing problems with student’s schedule have taken a turn for the better with the impl

In a few weeks, I will finally be done with college. Though I am unsure what to do next, one thing is for certain – it will not be laboratory research. I didn’t always have this mindset. I initially enjoyed laboratory research, and thought it was much preferable to having a desk job. At the my first biology lab, I had an amazing mentor who gave me tasks that helped me better understand conce